The present invention relates to a vehicle seat assembly with a front panel to automatically extends the effective length of the vehicle seat cushion in the event of an accident and in particular to improvements in the design and operation of the front panel. This application is related to copending application, Ser. No. 07/978,746, filed the same day, and now U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,175 and entitled Vehicle Seat Assembly With a Front Panel. That application is commonly assigned with the present application and is hereby incorporated by reference.
Current automobile design standards require that the vehicle contain features to protect occupants who do not actively fasten their seat belts. The most well known features to protect an occupant are air bags and automatic belt systems. The air bags or automatic belts are used to restrain the upper torso of a vehicle occupant. The lower torso of an occupant is restrained by knee bolsters formed in the vehicle instrument panel. However, for the bolsters to be effective, the knees of the occupant must be fairly close to the bolsters before the vehicle collision.
Since the driver's seat must be adjusted to a position that enables the driver to reach the vehicle control pedals, the driver's knees will be positioned fairly close to the instrument panel knee bolsters. In addition, the steering wheel acts to keep the driver from moving off the seat assembly. However, for occupants seated in the passenger seat of the vehicle, it is not uncommon for the seat assembly to be adjusted too far rearwardly for the knee bolsters to be effective in preventing the occupant from moving forward, off the seat cushion during a frontal impact collision. This is particularly true for relatively small persons.
Without restraint to prevent a seat occupant from moving forward, the occupant can move forward, off the seat cushion. With the legs bent at the knees, the occupant's torso will then fall to the floor forward of the seat cushion between the instrument panel, the air bag (if the vehicle is so equipped) and the front edge of the seat cushion. This can cause severe back injuries as well as facial and head injuries. Occupant's who remain on the seat cushion will "bounce" back into the seat after impact with the vehicle instrument panel or air bag. This reduces the severity of injuries as compared to occupant's that fall to the vehicle floor forward of the seat cushion.
The referenced patent application discloses and claims a vehicle seat assembly having panel rotatably mounted at the front of the seat cushion. The panel has a stowed position forming the front of the seat cushion. During a frontal impact collision resulting in a deceleration of the vehicle greater than a predetermined level, the panel is automatically rotated to a support position extending forward from the seat cushion. The panel is automatically locked in place to support a seat occupant who has moved forward, onto the panel. Before the occupant can slide forward off the panel, the occupant's knees will strike the knee bolster and the occupant will "bounce" back onto the seat cushion. The panel prevents the occupant from falling forward of the cushion. A bias spring urges the support panel to the deployed position while an inertia release latch holds the support panel in its stowed position until the seat experiences the predetermined deceleration necessary to deploy the panel.
The present application improves upon the device of the referenced application by replacing the inertia release latch with an electronically activated latch release that is coupled to the air bag deployment system for simultaneous deployment of the seat panel and air bag. In addition, with such an electrically activated release latch, it is possible to disable the panel when a seat occupant has fastened their seat belt. When an occupant has done so, the seat belt system will restrain the occupant in the seat assembly thus obviating the need for the panel. Additional improvements to the operating mechanism for the seat panel are also disclosed.
Further objects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a consideration of the following description and the appended claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.